The Inward Turn: American Opera Revisits America’s Past

Abstract

Abstract:Many modern American operas revisit canonical American literature (e.g., The Great Gatsby, A Streetcar Named Desire, Of Mice and Men, An American Tragedy, A View from a Bridge, Moby-Dick, McTeague, Margaret Garner) or base themselves on historical events, especially recent ones (e.g., X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, Nixon in China, Dr. Atomic). However, what is striking is that the focus of the latter is most often on the remarkable or heroic individual—as, indeed, it is in what could be called recent “celebrity opera” as well (as in Marilyn or Jackie O)—thus revealing the enduring power of American exceptionalism to this day.